Gouden Carolus Noël (Christmas)

Brewed by Brouwerij Het Anker
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Mechelen, Belgium

Dark brown beer with a beige head. Aroma isn’t all too formed. Taste is of licorish (dutch: drop) with a hint of mint as in after-dinner-chocolate-mints. Palate is very refined, a lot comes by. The end is the typical candy-sugar that caracterise all the Gouden Carolus beers.

After the beer was served in the glass there was found a lasting quantity not wall adhesive light brown foam collar which was fine and evenly of structure. The beer also contained no carbonic acid in the glass. The beer has a thick brown color and a light acid taste. The after tast of the beer is hoppybitter with a anise-like touch. This beer smells spicy.

750 mL bottle. Yeasty aroma features plum, spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice), and vegetable (celery, spinach) scents. Complex and interesting smell but not entirely what I would call good. Pours a maroon-brown with a ruby hue. Hazy liquid with a modicum of effervescence. Large amount of long-lasting, uneven, tan head. Produces nice lacing. Very cool appearance. At first, tastes excessively sweet yet "beery" and dull, but the taste improves greatly upon multiple sips; takes some getting used to but ultimately pretty good. Meaty, umami flavor. Lemon, spice (especially pepper), and toffee tastes. Boozy; calls bourbon to mind. Herbal finish, like a vegetable picked right off the top of the soil. Tasty, long, dry, spicy aftertaste. Medium body. Fluffy and oily in the palate. Lively on the tongue. Gouden Carolus Noël is a complex, interesting, and unique beer. It is unmistakably Belgian. Perhaps I didn’t like it as much as this score indicates, but I greatly appreciated it, and I am very glad I tried it.

330 ml bottle red brown colored beer with a tiny head aroma caramel fruit sweet spices taste is sweet and fruity little bit spices and some alcohol.

This one pours a dark, semi-translucent brown, definitely a good start. Aroma is strong, sharp and more like a good rum than a beer. Biting flavor is fruity, syrupy, sweet but not cloying. Texture is smooth and yet rough and strongly fizzy, biting the tongue and leaving a finish like an angry tomcat scratching on its way down.

2008 bottle. Pours brown with a small light beige head. Leaves a little spotty lacing. Big fruity, malty aroma, some yeast. Flavor is dark fruit, raisin, plums, prunes, some cherry, light notes of apple, banana, yeast. Some alcohol. Sweet malty finish. Some stickiness. Medium carbonation. Very nice.

An interesting brew. Far too sweet even for me. Over-bearing anisceed notes. Aroma is full on anisceed and caremel. An ok beer but nowhere near as good as their standard stuff. Poured into a chalis at the Rake on tap. A long lasting drink but actually a little dissapointed compared to their normal offering. Tastes also a lot of sickly-sweet golden syrup mixed with caramel and anisceed. Not bad but too over-bearing on the anisceed which ruins the beer.

Bottle says best before 03/08/10. Dark brown pour with a tan islands of head. Aroma of eggnog, perfume, fruit. Flavor is fruity, almost like those sprays teenage girls spray around all the time. Some licorice. Some rum soaked fruit. Medieum bodied, Mouthfeel is kind of chalky. FInishes like perfume. Eh, this one got hard to drink as it wore on. Not really something I Could recommend.